The loft of a golf club head determines the launching angle of the ball; accordingly, a golfer should know the loft angle of the club about to be used. Club manufacturers, however, do not identify the degrees of loft of any club, relying upon the golfer to know that a 7 iron has 40% of loft, for example.
Some manufacturers even produce clubs that do not have standard loft angles. For example, a manufacturer may introduce to the market a "new, improved" 7 iron that purportedly produces longer shots, when in fact the manufacturer has merely decreased the standard 7 iron loft angle from 40 degrees to 35 degrees.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device that measures the actual loft of a club head in degrees. The loft of unknown clubs could be determined if such a device were known, and the loft angle of "known" clubs could be verified.
When a golf ball is to be addressed, the golfer imagines a vertical plane passing through the center of the ball and through his or her body. The club is then held in that vertical plane. If the sole of the club is not held in a horizontal plane, the lie of the club is incorrect and a poor shot will result. Golf club manufacturers provide no means for a golfer to check the lie produced by his or her grip. If a lie detector were known, it would have great utility as a training aid.
If a loft indicator and lie detector could be provided in a single unit, then the advantages of each could be simultaneously enjoyed.
The prior art contains no teachings that disclose a combination loft indicator and lie detector. Nor does the prior art contain suggestions that would impel one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art to combine the disclosures of the prior art in such a way to produce a combination golf loft and lie detector.
There are a number of U.S. patents that show devices attachable to golf club heads or to other parts of the golf club. For example, Sundberg U.S. Pat. No. 2,923,552 shows a magnetic mounter for a golf club of conventional design, such as a putter, for the purpose of permitting the achievement of coordination of body and arm movement in putting. An indicator tube containing an indicator ball and liquid is provided along a radius of curvature of about six inches.
Vella U.S. Pat No. 3,909,004 and Liljequist U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,618 both provide bubble level indicators for golf club heads, as do Skelley U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,922 and McCullough, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 2,976,046. Fincher U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,350 discloses a magnetic bubble level indicator that may be added to any of a variety of conventional golf club heads. Olexson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,451, Miley U.S. Pat. No. 2,789,363 and Mayes U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,475 show magnetic levels having two level indicators. Dixon U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,819, Fay U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,209, and Vogt U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,900 show a variety of indicia for levels and the like.
Clearly, there are many devices attachable to golf clubs and golf club heads, but there are no devices that combine a golf loft indicator and a lie detector in a single unit. More importantly, the prior art does not suggest how such a combination device could be provided.